Vertical full-colour micro-LEDs via 2D materials-based layer transfer

Jiho Shin; Hyunseok Kim; Suresh Sundaram; Junseok Jeong; Bo-In Park; Celesta S Chang; Joonghoon Choi; Taemin Kim; Mayuran Saravanapavanantham; Kuangye Lu; Sungkyu Kim; Jun Min Suh; Ki Seok Kim; Min-Kyu Song; Yunpeng Liu; Kuan Qiao; Jae Hwan Kim; Yeongin Kim; Ji-Hoon Kang; Jekyung Kim; Doeon Lee; Jaeyong Lee; Justin S Kim; Han Eol Lee; Hanwool Yeon; Hyun S Kum; Sang-Hoon Bae; Vladimir Bulovic; Ki Jun Yu; Kyusang Lee; Kwanghun Chung; Young Joon Hong; Abdallah Ougazzaden; Jeehwan Kim

doi:10.1038/s41586-022-05612-1

Vertical full-colour micro-LEDs via 2D materials-based layer transfer

Nature. 2023 Feb;614(7946):81-87. doi: 10.1038/s41586-022-05612-1. Epub 2023 Feb 1.

Authors

Jiho Shin^#^{1

2

3}, Hyunseok Kim^#^{1

2}, Suresh Sundaram^#⁴, Junseok Jeong^#^{1

2

5}, Bo-In Park^{1

2}, Celesta S Chang^{1

2}, Joonghoon Choi⁵, Taemin Kim⁶, Mayuran Saravanapavanantham^{2

7}, Kuangye Lu^{1

2}, Sungkyu Kim^{1

2

5}, Jun Min Suh^{1

2}, Ki Seok Kim^{1

2}, Min-Kyu Song^{1

2}, Yunpeng Liu^{1

2}, Kuan Qiao^{1

2}, Jae Hwan Kim^{1

2}, Yeongin Kim^{1

2

8}, Ji-Hoon Kang^{1

2}, Jekyung Kim^{1

2}, Doeon Lee⁹, Jaeyong Lee^{1

2}, Justin S Kim¹⁰, Han Eol Lee^{1

2

11}, Hanwool Yeon^{1

2

12}, Hyun S Kum^{1

2

6}, Sang-Hoon Bae^{1

2

10}, Vladimir Bulovic^{2

7}, Ki Jun Yu⁶, Kyusang Lee¹³, Kwanghun Chung^{14

15}, Young Joon Hong¹⁶, Abdallah Ougazzaden^{17

18}, Jeehwan Kim^{19

20

21}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.
² Research Laboratory of Electronics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.
³ Department of Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.
⁴ CNRS, IRL 2958, GT-CNRS, Georgia Tech-Lorraine, Metz, France.
⁵ Department of Nanotechnology and Advanced Materials Engineering, Sejong University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
⁶ Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Yonsei University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
⁷ Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.
⁸ Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, USA.
⁹ Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA.
¹⁰ Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, Washington University in Saint Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA.
¹¹ Division of Advanced Materials Engineering, Jeonbuk National University, Jeonju, Republic of Korea.
¹² School of Materials Science and Engineering, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology, Gwangju, Republic of Korea.
¹³ Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA. [email protected].
¹⁴ Department of Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA. [email protected].
¹⁵ Institute for Medical Engineering and Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA. [email protected].
¹⁶ Department of Nanotechnology and Advanced Materials Engineering, Sejong University, Seoul, Republic of Korea. [email protected].
¹⁷ CNRS, IRL 2958, GT-CNRS, Georgia Tech-Lorraine, Metz, France. [email protected].
¹⁸ School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA. [email protected].
¹⁹ Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA. [email protected].
²⁰ Research Laboratory of Electronics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA. [email protected].
²¹ Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA. [email protected].

^# Contributed equally.

PMID: 36725999
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-05612-1

Abstract

Micro-LEDs (µLEDs) have been explored for augmented and virtual reality display applications that require extremely high pixels per inch and luminance^1,2. However, conventional manufacturing processes based on the lateral assembly of red, green and blue (RGB) µLEDs have limitations in enhancing pixel density^3-6. Recent demonstrations of vertical µLED displays have attempted to address this issue by stacking freestanding RGB LED membranes and fabricating top-down^7-14, but minimization of the lateral dimensions of stacked µLEDs has been difficult. Here we report full-colour, vertically stacked µLEDs that achieve, to our knowledge, the highest array density (5,100 pixels per inch) and the smallest size (4 µm) reported to date. This is enabled by a two-dimensional materials-based layer transfer technique^15-18 that allows the growth of RGB LEDs of near-submicron thickness on two-dimensional material-coated substrates via remote or van der Waals epitaxy, mechanical release and stacking of LEDs, followed by top-down fabrication. The smallest-ever stack height of around 9 µm is the key enabler for record high µLED array density. We also demonstrate vertical integration of blue µLEDs with silicon membrane transistors for active matrix operation. These results establish routes to creating full-colour µLED displays for augmented and virtual reality, while also offering a generalizable platform for broader classes of three-dimensional integrated devices.

Publication types

Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

Abstract

Publication types

Grants and funding